avenue H

Blog Moved!

2008-02-29T11:28:00.002-05:00

My blog has MOVED to http://avenuehandmade.wordpress.com.
Please check out the new blog & update your bookmarks! Yay, thanks.

Fontify

2008-02-27T10:19:00.005-05:00

Wow, I am all up in the almost-daily blogging here lately, aren't I? I may be subconsciously trying to discipline myself because soon I will have to begin blogging as part of my day job, and no one likes to be thrown into a new responsibility with creaky knees and rusty writing chops. Or it may be that my voracious appetite for reading blogs is taking over my life--and, consequently, I find myself inspired to post on an almost daily basis. Probably a combination of the two. Soon I think I shall start posting my favorite Etsy finds, to satisfy my desire to support all the wonderful artists whose work I cannot afford to buy at present. Yay!

Anyhoo, I'm mainly posting this as a note-to-self: the CRAFT blog today alerted me to a swell tool called Fontifier (which was brought to their attention by Jessica of How About Orange). Not to be vain, but I kinda dig my handwriting sometimes, so I think I'll try this. For 9 bucks it just might be worth it. End note to self.

Happy hump day! Here's a picture of something I made:

Handmade Nation March Fundraiser

2008-02-26T10:02:00.002-05:00

Here's a great chance to support an independent filmmaker and the independent crafting movement at the same time: enter the Handmade Nation raffle. You could win about 80 bucks worth of rad goodies! A raffle ticket is just $2, and the money will help Faythe Levine complete post-production on her documentary about the handmade movement sweeping the nation.

As promised...

2008-02-24T14:23:00.003-05:00

...new AVENUE H pieces are available in the Etsy shop! Go look, they're neat. More to come, too, so stay tuned! I'm having a ball with my new stash of antique spoons and coins.

Preview

2008-02-22T23:25:00.003-05:00

A teensy sampling of some of my recent eBay scores.... Check the shop Sunday (2.24) after 1 p.m. EST to see the finished products!!

Happy Friday! Tonight I made granola from scratch, thanks to a recipe posted by Orangette that I found via Simply Photo (via Simply Breakfast). It's still cooling, but preliminary taste tests indicated it's going to be superb. And now we have something yummy + healthy to munch on tomorrow during the Best Picture Showcase Marathon!

Goal-setting whilst my camera is away.

2008-02-20T14:55:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago my hubby, who ever-so-generously lends me use of his fancy 10D camera for all my jewelry-photographing needs, quite generously loaned said camera to one of his photography school buddies (not sure why his photog friend doesn't have his own digital camera, but that's another story). Super, huh. Not so much for me. I've got oodles of freshly-crafted goodies languishing on my work table, just waiting to be photographed and offered up on Etsy--to fulfill their purpose, really. *Sigh* So it goes. But I just wanted to let ya'll know that I have not quit creating, I've simply been without a camera.

But I'm getting the camera back this weekend, so mark your calendars! Fabulous new Avenue H jewelry, cards, and perhaps even scarves will be available for your viewing and purchasing pleasure this Sunday, Feb. 24! Yay!! I imagine I'll have at least a few of the new items listed by, oh, let's say 1 p.m. EST...so keep an eye on my Etsy shop Sunday afternoon or thereabouts and be one of the first to see my latest creations. Yippee!

Oh, and I've been fiendishly eBay-ing it up the past week or so, so in a few more weeks I should have another series of new vintage silverware pieces to show off. I get really excited when I get new materials, so you may even have to endure some gushing about my silverware acquisitions...soon as I get my--ahem, my husband's--camera back, that is.

Elephant LOVE

2008-02-20T10:08:00.004-05:00

Check out the adorableness by Teresa at Sewing Stars (via the Craftzine blog)! Not only is it possibly one of the cutest elephants ever, but she made it while she was sick! Last time I was sick, I tried soldering some stuff...and gave up after about 10 minutes. I was coughing so badly I almost soldered my wedding ring to my hand. Thanks, Teresa, for sharing this and I wish you a speedy recovery!

"Enjoy, Your Mail Lady Susan"

2008-01-28T18:03:00.001-05:00

spools again
Originally uploaded by avenuehandmade

Thanks to a passing remark by my husband, our mail lady came to discover my obsession with vintage spools, and one day I came home to find two gallon-size Ziploc bags stuffed with spools in our mailbox--they were bequeathed to Mail Lady Susan by her mother. So sweet of her. Aren't they pretty??

(More pics in my Flickr.)

Happy Monday!

SOLD!

2008-01-27T10:36:00.001-05:00

bicycle love card, originally uploaded by avenuehandmade.

I must say, I'm pretty proud of this card...it turned out a thousand times better than I hoped. I stitched it completely freehand! I listed it yesterday morning and it sold the same day. Yippee! I'm excited that it's going to a great home, and I can't wait to try more designs like this...stay tuned!!

MEGACRAFTZILLA!!

2008-01-27T10:32:00.001-05:00

MEGACRAFTZILLA FLIER
Originally uploaded by avenuehandmade

Yay! I'm stoked about this craft show...never been to Dino World, so I'm excited to check it out! Plus it'll be my first FEST event, so I can't wait to get to meet some of the members in person. More details to come soon....

Avenue Handmade, Inc.

2008-01-24T13:15:00.001-05:00

ABInc, originally uploaded by avenuehandmade.

You can't really read it, but this document certifies that Avenue Bravo Incorporated is an official registered business with the State of Florida! YAY!!

Now I have to start collecting and paying sales tax. That'll be fun. :(

It's cool to be a fully legit business, though. :)

7 Calls in 2 Hours, or How We Bought a Car for $25

2008-01-16T12:46:00.001-05:00

So last weekend my husband is out in our front yard, waxing our vintage Land Rover that we've been trying to sell for over a year, when our next-door neighbor (we'll call him Mr. V.) stops by. He's driving his 1990 Honda Civic Wagon. The menfolk chat a bit, look at each other's cars, scratch their bellies, etc. Turns out Mr. V. wants to sell his car. Hubby yells inside that I need to come out and see something. I come out, gasp at how adorable this car is (it really is!), gasp again at the thought of possibly owning it, exclaim over the perfect timing (my car, a family hand-me-down, had just weeks before begun to give us trouble...transmission, etc...stuff we didn't wanna put money into fixing cause the car hadn't been taken care of for pretty much its whole life anyway...yadda yadda yadda), go for a little test drive (it's a stick-shift!), and basically fall in love on the spot. I fall harder when Mr. V. tells us it gets 30 mpg in the city! Essentially we tell him we're very interested, and he goes home saying he hadn't really thought about an asking price yet, but he'll get back to us.

Mr. V. knocks on our door less than an hour later. Tells hubby the Blue Book for the car is $900, but considering his needs a new battery, the automatic seatbelts aren't really automatic anymore, and a few other minor things, he says he couldn't ask more than $500 for it. Yes, our jaws dropped. Anyway, we discuss it, decide it's a great deal, figure out we can get by until payday even if we buy it right away, so we go for it.

When we actually go next door to do the transaction, Mr. V. insists he won't take more than $475 because the car's gas tank is on Empty!

And now I am the proud owner of this cute little nerdy car, puttering all around town in it and loving it. Yay! (Pics will be coming soon!) Great story, right? Wait, it gets better.

Yesterday I listed my old car on Craigslist. At 5:55 p.m., just before I left work. I listed it for $550 so we'd have bargaining room, and I explained that it had been a reliable daily driver for me, but it definitely needed some work. I put my hubby's phone number in the ad. Before I even got home and told him I had listed it, he had gotten a call about it--someone wanting to come see it today. Before we finished making dinner, he'd gotten 3 more calls from folks wanting to come see the car. And then 3 more, with one guy wanting to come see it right away! So the guy came, saw the car, paid $450 cash on the spot, and that is how we essentially paid $25 for a car! Three cheers for Craigslist!!

preparation

2007-12-05T14:44:00.000-05:00

Last week I stumbled upon this super tutorial for an Advent calendar (with chocolate!) by the talented Allsorts. Since my husband and I have inhabited...shall we say--cramped living spaces for most of our two years of marriage, we have few holiday decorations thus far, and few holiday traditions as well. So we thought this year would be a good time to initiate some traditions--some involving decorations--what with us finally living in a space that could house more than the bare necessities. We took on Allsorts' Advent calendar as our first holiday project--and I must say it turned out marvelously! (We took a bit of creative license with it, of course. :)

It was so fun for me to watch my grease-monkey hubby painstakingly embroider small felt pouches--I learned that he knows a bit more about sewing than I gave him credit for! Crafting is usually solely "my" territory in our house, so it was a treat for us to do something creative like this together. I think the endeavor even inspired hubby to learn more about sewing and felting--and he's already moved on to making Miyazaki-inspired plushies!

Chocolates!! YUM.
I'm really excited about the holidays this year--beginning new traditions, getting a real Christmas tree (post & pics coming soon), buying handmade, seeing faraway family...December is already off to a great start!

Cheer to all....

new.

2007-10-26T08:35:00.000-04:00

Introducing Avenue Handmade, the new name of what was formerly Cripple Creek! Over the next few months I will be transitioning all of my signature products to be sold through my Avenue H store (& offering some great deals on Cripple Creek items that will be discontinued!). I'm really excited about this chance to reinvent my creations, designs, & website...basically to start all over from scratch. But I'm also a tad nervous about that very thing: starting from scratch (again).

But hey, it's probably easier to (re)start from scratch after only 1 (fairly successful) year than to struggle through several years with a muddled focus and eventually be faced with the dilemma of whether or not to reinvent or just throw in the towel all together. I think the young handle growing pains more easily--probably cause we're used to them--so why not just dive right in while my company is still young.

Anyway, more to come in the next few days as I get everything set up...I'm excited to have a "table" at Poppytalk Handmade's November Market! You can check out my new wares there after November 5. I've got lots of new recycled silverware jewelry & plenty of adorable new (also recycled!) holiday cards.